I joined FM Writers 2009 2yn writing group, along with a couple of hundred other people. We aim to write our own novels in two years, as part of a large, supportive, closed crit group. We write assignments to write each week and comment on each others’ threads.

Of course people will drop out over the next 2 years, but in the meantime, I’m having fun.

The pacing is good for me, as I don’t have to write in a mad rush and my typing continues to be painfully slow. Unfortunately this remains the staus quo as the nerve damage in my left arm continues to heal.

I first read this poem at Writers at Kimbos, a performance venue that took over Monday nights at Kimbo’s Bar in Phillip, a suburb of Canberra, for a couple of years starting in 1989. My, how the years fly.

I was one of the organisers of Writers at Kimbos. First off, I had the pleasure of working with with Garry Bagnell, Frankie Seymour, Bill Tully and Dave McMullan. The organisers changed over time, some leaving while new people came on board – including Chris Clarke, Robin Davidson, Peter Huta, David Paxton, Meredith Stokes, David Walker and Joel Webster.

A large number of individuals and groups read poems and stories at the venue.

In 1991 we published ‘Rescuing Beached Mondays’, a collection of works performed at Kimbos from October 1989 to October 1990. The initial print run sold very well, and the experience led to some of us forming the small press, Boris Books, which is still publishing manuscripts.

During last couple of years, Avi Abrams from Dark Roasted Blend has been compiling information about new and promising writers in science fiction, fantasy, horror and slipstream (magic realism). The result is an an amazing database on the Ultimate Guide to Modern Writers of Fantastic Literature: 1990-2009.